Gas-engine.



C. E. FERGUSON & 6. H. PLEOGEB;

GAS ENGINE APPLICATION FILED PEI. 23. m1.

- Patented A 3 SHE! MEET I.

C E. FERGUSON 6: G. H. PLEOGER.

GAS ENGINE.

APPLICATlON HLED [23.23.1911

Patented Aug. 21, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2 EB At;

C. E. FERGUSON & G. H. PLEOGER.

GAS ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 23. mi.

Patented Aug. 21, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

CHARLES E. FERGUSON AND GEORGE H. PLEOGEB, 0F ANTIGO, WISCONSIN.

GAS-ENGINE Application filed February 28, 1911.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, (jiunuzs E. Fmot- SONand Gconos H. PLEDGE, citizens of the United States, residing at Antigo,in the county of Langlade and State of \l'isconsm, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Gasdfingines, of which the following is aspecification.

invention relates to gas engines and has for its primary object theprovision of an improved gas engine which shall have improved startingmeans, improved means for reversing the direction of driving, andimproved means for reventing leakage of gases under pressure mm escapingpast the pistons.

Other ob'ects and advantages of our invention w-i become obvious byreference to the following description considered in connection with theaccompanying drawings.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of our invention;

Fig. '2 is a vertical section through the center of my invention takenin a plane paralleling that of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section taken approximately on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig 3;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section on line 5-5 of Fig. 3'

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary section on line 6-6 of 1.

Reference numeral 7 indicates the base of the engine, which carries arotor chamber 8. Mounted in horizontal hearings in the rotor chamber isa main shaft 9 to which is keyed a rotor 11 com mix-ting preferably acasting having four to la! slots 12, which extend to the periphery ofthe rotor. The rotor also has straight side channels 13, four on aside,

which connect the outer ends of the slots 12. In each slot 12 is mounteda slldable iston blade 14 which is yieldingly presgutwardl of the rotorby a coiled spring d5. The side edges of the blades 14 are channeled asat 16 and in each channel 16 is positioned a leak plate 17 pressedoutwardly against the ends of the rotor chamber 8 by a pair of expansionsprings 18. The main shaft 9 is so positioned in the chamber 8 as tocause the rotor with the blades 14 compresed to fit snugly in the upperend of the chamber, leaving beneath the rotor a s ace SI 19crescent-shaped in cross-section into w ich the blades 14 are pressedsuccessively to Specification, of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 21, 1917.

Serial No. 150,303.

form explosion chambers. As the rotor turns through the space 19 it willbe noted that springs 15 press the outer ends of the blades 14 intocontact with the wall of chamber 8 while springs 18 press leak plates 17against the ends of chamber 8. In this manner all leakage of com ressedgases past the blades 14 is prevented? Inasmuch as there is constantpressure against each blade 14 as one explosion fol lows another in thedriving of the engine it is desirable to provide means for preventingleakage of compressed gases from the space 19 between the rotor and itsblades and into the slots 12. For this purpose leak slides 21 and 22 areprovided in each slot 13, the leak slides overlapping at the center ofthe slot and having one or more springs 23 interposed between them togive them a constant pressure against the surfaces of the blades 14.Expansion springs 2% are provided in the rotor behind each slide 21 topress the slide outwardly against the ends of the chamber 8 in order toprevent leakage of compressed gases from space 19 past the rotor intothe slots 12 and the bearings for shaft 9. Conncctil with the bottom ofspace 19 and remover from each other a dis tance less than that betweenthe two'adjacent blades 14 are a pair of exhaust ports 25 and 26, eachcontrolled by a valve 27. By reference to lfigs. l, '2, 5 and 6 themeans for controlling the valves 27 will be apparent. These meanscomprise a cam slot 28 formed in the inner surface of a collar 29 keyedas at 31 to the main shaft 9. A roller 32 (Figs: 1, 3 and 5) is lixedupon a lever 33 and rides in the slot 32*. The lever-33 is pivoted on astub shaft 34 mounted in wall of the chamber 8 and at its lower end ispivoted as at 35 to a link 36 which at its opposite end is pivoted to astub shaft 37 mounted in the base of the engine. The

link 37 carries two oppositely extending arms 38 and 39 which at theirouter ends suppodrlzvallvlz levfirs 1:1 3:151 42, thesehelclvzg extenoug s ts cutint of the he and directly beneath a in contact with thepuppet valves 27'. e

valves 27 are normally held in lowermost or closed position by coiledsprings 44 and when in this position are in contact with the levers 41,each lever being pivoted asat 45 in the slot &3. The cam slot 28approach!!! the axis of shaft 9 as at 46 and asroller32 rides into theportion 4.45 of the cam slot it eac rocks the lever 33 into the dottedline position shown in Fig. 1; this rocks the link 36 counter-clockwiseupon the shaft 37 elevating valve lever 42 and valve 27 in the exhaustpassage 26. Should the en ine be reversed the rise of the roller intotie portion 46 of cam slot 28 would cause an opening of the valve 27 inexhaust port 25. In the construction of the invention the cam slots 28may have one or more portions .46 in order to rovide an exhaust afterthe passage of blade beyond its exhaust port. Viewing Figs. 1 and 2 thewall of the chamber 8' is provided; at the left side with a valve casing47 forming a valve chamber 48 in which is positioned a valve 49 providedwith a passageway 51 for gasolene which, in the normal or open positionof the valve (shown in dotted lines at the left in Fig. 2) c ects with agasolene intake passage 52 cored, out f the casing 47. A starting sparkplug 3 is set into the casin 47 in communication with chamber 48 anchamber 48 is also provided with an exhaust ort 54 controlled by a.valve 55 held normally closed by a spring 56. The valve chamber 48communicates with the space in the rotor chamber by means of a slantowthe line of meeting of the wall QY pasSa e 57, communlcating with spaceo chamber 8 and the rotor 11. The apparatua sh ve described in thisparagraph is duplicated on the opposite side of the engine in order toprovide for reversal of a'otation'of the rotor when desired. At eachside of the engine and somewhat below the entry of passage 57 a runningspark plug 58 is inserted for exploding mixture in the space 19. Anysuitable means for operating the valves 49'and 56 may be employed. Forcontrol of the valves 49 a gear 59 may be provided keyed to shaft 9 andmeshing with a pinion 61 journaled on stub shaft 34, the" pinioncarrying a pivot pin 62. Each valve 41 has an end shaft 63 whichprotrudes from the casing 47 and carries a crank arm 64; links 65connect pivot pins 62 to crank arms 64. As shaft 9 rotates the valves 49are alternately opened and closed.

For control of the exhaust valves 55 the means to this end may comprisea cam slot 66 cut in the outer face of the collar 29 and provided with aportion 67 which bears farther from the center of shaft 9 than theremaining portion of the slot. In the slot 66 may be positioned a roller68 mounted on a T shaped lever 69 having oppositely extending arms 71and 72, each arm at its outer end being operatively connected to one ofthe valves 55. As the roller 68 en ters the portion 67 of cam slot- 66the lever 69 is rocked to elevate arm 72 of'lever69 and open theleft-hand valve 55 in Fig.2.

In the operation of our invention, and

considering the parts in the positions occupied in Fig. 2 the initialrotation of shaft 9, by any suitable means, such as a hand crank, hasdrawn through passageways 52 and 51 a charge of explosive mixture intochamber 48 and passave 57, following which the left-hand valve 49 hasbeen closed. A spark is now shot through plug 53, exploding the mixturein left-hand chamber 48. This explosion whirls the rotor and as thefirst blade passes the lower end of left-hand passage 57 thecorresponding valve 49 will open and the blade will draw in a char e ofexplosive mixture, following which t e valve will shut and a spark willbe shot through running spark plug 58, the starting plug 53 being cutout of circuit. The rotor is now being driven in the direction of arrowA in Fig. 2. As each blade 14 passes the exhaust port 26 the valve 27 islifted as well as the valve 55 in the right-hand cas ing 47, the openingof valve 55 being provided to relieve any back pressure on the rotor.Should it be desired to reverse the direction of rotation of the rotorthe ignition sparks may be applied to the righthand spark plug 53 andthen to the righthand spark plug 58.

Our invention is adapted to be operated not only as an internalcombustion engine, but it may be driven by steam, compressed air or anyother similar fluid medium under pressure. While we have illustrated anddescribed the preferred embodiment of our invention, it will be obviousthat one sln'lled in the art might construct modifications thereofwithout de arting from the spirit of the invention. e wish, thereforenot to be limited to the precise embodiment shown except in so far asthe same is limited in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a gas engine the combination with means for providing a rotorchamber, of a rotor mounted in one end of said chamber, radiallyslidable piston blades carried in radial slots cut in the rotor, saidrotor being provided with end slots which connect the outer ends of saidradial slots at their outer edges, a pair of slides mounted in each endslot, expansion springs pressing said slides against the piston blades,and a pair of expansion springs pressing each slide outwardly of therotor into contact with the wall of said chamber.

2. In a gas engine the combination with means for providing a rotorchamber of a rotor mounted in one end of said chamber, radially slidablepiston blades carried in radial slots cut in the rotor, said rotor beingprovided with end slots which connect the outer ends of said radialslots at their outer edges, a pa r of slides mounted in each end slot,expansion springs pressing said slides against the piston blades, and apair of expension springs pressing each slide outwardly of the rotorinto contact with the wall of said chamber, said slides having theirouter ends beveled for flat contact with the surfaces of the pistonblades.

3. In an internal combustion engine the combination with means providingan elcngated chamber, of means at such si of said chamber and externallythereof providing valve chambers, a; rotor mounted in one end of saidrotor chamber, there being sssageways provided. from said valve chambersto the rotor chamber, means for supplying fuel to said valve chambers,valves controlling the supply of fuel to said chambers, a. spark pluginserted in each of said valve chambers, each of said valve chambers being provided with an exhaust port, valves for said exhaust ports, andmeans driven from said rotor for operating the valves.

In testimony whereof we have afiixed our signatures.

CHARLES E. FERGUSON.

GEORGE H. PLEOGER.

